I'll Protect You
by Tigresse
Summary: Hitomi is originally from Gaea but grew up on earth having a very hard life and having no idea where she comes from. When a blue pillar of light comes and takes her back to Gaea at 17 years old, she finds herself in the middle of a war.
1. Will Power

AU*I do not own Vision of Escaflowne

Here we go, this idea has been going on in my head forever. V/H alllll the way

It was pouring rain from black clouds as Hitomi ran. She ran as fast as she could. She tried to stay calm. Being calm is what made rational choices. However, having her dead sister's drug dealer, Jake, and his crew, chasing after you made fear and panic rush into her system. Therefore irrational decisions were being made in the directions she was taking to try and run them out.

Hitomi was a brave girl, there was nothing she feared. Except Jake. She had seen him destroy both of her sisters, Lulu and Rikku. Even if they were not blood sisters, they were the ones who took her in when she was found in the middle of the streets with no memory of where she came from except her name and very odd clothes. She also had a tattoo of a green shaped star on her forehead, which Lulu and Rikku thought was very weird for such a young child to have. They did not know her exact age but estimated her to be around 9 years old.

Lulu was the one who started working for Jake to try and earn more money to support Hotaru's medical demands. Hotaru was Lulu's daughter that she had when she was 19. But even though the money was there, Hotaru hadn't made it and passed away with a mysterious disease at 5 years old. Soon Rikku who could not deal with the pain turned to Lulu and bought drugs from her. A year later at 16 years old Rikku overdosed on heroin. As for Lulu, she was shot and died in a gang shooting leaving 2500 debt to the drug lord of the city, was now up to Hitomi to pay up.

Even though she went through all this, Hitomi still had a will to live with a smile on and a positive attitude. No one would know she went through such an ordeal because she never let herself cry since to her that would mean that 'the bad guys won'. There was just the odd time where Hitomi would drift off and look out into space with sadness and sorrow in her eyes.

And now after running for over 20 minutes, she came across her high school and ran across the campus until she arrived on the track and field. By this time she was out of breath and had to stop, putting her hand on her knees trying to inhale air as much as she could.

Seconds later she was surrounded by Jake and his gang members. Hitomi emerald eyes held such hopelessness. Jake took a step forward and looked at her with very angry black eyes.

The rain turned into a thunder storm. No one was in sight, most people would find it crazy to be out in such a storm.

"You little bitch," Jake spat, "you think I'm a fool?" He looked her over and noticed her backpack. "You weren't even going to pay me, look at you trying to run away."

Hitomi shook her head as she answered, "No! No! I'm not running away, Jake it's just I don't have the money yet. Lulu owed you a lot here, and I'm trying my best to pay you back but you're going to have to give me more time! I've managed to save up 500-"

Jake snorted "500? 500?"

All of a sudden two of the men surrounding Hitomi grabbed both of her arms to hold her still. This is when the beating started. The man named Jake threw a punch towards her stomach as she let out a yelp.

He continued the beating, "So you think that," WHACK

"is going to make up" PUNCH, "for 2500 dollars?" SLAP. After a few minutes of continuously beating Hitomi, she was barely able to stand up on her own.

She tried to take air in whenever she could before the next blow. "Please..." she uttered with all her strength.

"What's that? You know I'm sick of this bullshit. I gave you more time and what did I receive. I get 200 dollars more?" Jake took out a his pocket knife and Hitomi looked up at him with pleading eyes. He drew the knife to her cheek and made a slow horizontal cut under her right eye as Hitomi winced. Rain drops were sliding down the blade mixing with her blood and with a quick thrust Jake stabbed her into her stomach.

The stab made her yell out in pain, and blood started to go down her white shirt. Jake started to look her up and down with a weird look in his eyes. Was it...lust? A slow smirk came over Jake's face

"It'd be a shame to not have a little fun with you before you left for good.." The men holding her back chuckled in agreement.

Horror came over Hitomi's face. Jake's hand stroked Hitomi's face.

This was when the violent trashing came. "NO!" Hitomi screamed. She refused to die like this. There had to be something better in life than this, there had to. Instead of fear, she started to get very angry. Angry that all her life all she wanted was to laugh and have friends. Her only friends were her sisters. Everyone thought she was a freak because weird things would always happen around her. Kids sometimes called her a witch and so on. Hitomi had not lived the experiences she wanted. She was becoming angry that this man had taken away all that was dear to her and now wanted to take her dignity. No way. There was absolutely no way she would allow it. Hitomi shut her eyes and screamed again "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Jake's eyes grew wide as the green star on Hitomi's eyes started to glow and when Hitomi's eyes opened they were glowing green as well. The men that were holding her back didn't know what to do when they were blasted off of her 100 meters away. The ground started shaking and the thunder became even more intense.

Jake looked at her with shock "Wha-...what the fuck!"

Hitomi's eyes narrowed. She had no idea what was going on with her body but she felt powerful and that was good enough for her. The thing is she didn't really know how to control this new power. The bleachers of the track and field started trembling and wind started gushing around Hitomi. She realized she could control the wind and threw her hands back then thrust them forward to send the gusts of wind towards Jake who screamed out in fear and was knocked back.

The new power in Hitomi left her as soon as it had came. Her eyes stopped glowing and her star as well.

"_What was that?" _Hitomi wondered in fright and excitement. Although her mind was wired with thoughts, her body collapsed to the ground from all of the pain she had recently experienced and the exhaustion from the power she had summoned.

All of a sudden, a blue pillar of light surrounded Hitomi and lifted her towards the sky.


	2. Green StarShaped Tattoo

Here goes chapter 2! Thanks for the reviews, it's encouraging!

As Van's long training continued his panting grew stronger. Sweat glistened all over him as he attacked the air with his sword, concentrating on having a perfect form. Merle who had been watching him with boredom for quite some time finally lost patience.

"Lord Vannn," she whined "can we please go now? It's been 3 hours! You can keep training at the camp."

Van snapped out of his trance and looked to his right where Merle was sitting cat-like on a rock.

"Merle, I didn't force you to come with me. You knew I'd want to practice these swordsmanship moves. If I want to beat Allen-"

"Oh you and Allen will never grow up will you! It doesn't matter who can handle a piece of metal better, there's more important things to think about like the-"

"War." Van sighed. "I know, but there's nothing we can do until the Duke gives us orders." It was odd that Van would ever interrupt a training session to chat, but this was Merle, his only family left. She is the only one who ever saw Van's true self. The rest of the world saw him as arrogant and stubborn, which he was, no lie about it. His harsh life and anger is what drove him most of the time and made irrational decisions. Now that Van and Merle had joined Allen and his crew after they helped them escape from a Zaibach guymelefs ambush, Van had become ... friends if that's what you call it. More of an understanding between each other, they had both lost their families and homeland. Although he would never admit, Allen has shown him new ways of handling his sword.

"See, this is where I disagree, I don't think the Duke really understands what is going on here." 

"Maybe not, but we have taken refuge on his land and therefore he calls the shots to whether or not we put some defence on the city. I guess he thinks that will break the alliance with him and the Zaibach. Technically, Zaibach hasn't attacked Asturia yet so their allegiance is still intact."

Merle grimaced, "Well how many countries does Zaibach have to destroy before the Duke wakes up!"

Van looked down at the ground, anger rising at the thought of Fanelia burning into flames. He didn't reply which made Merle regret her words, knowing that it was very painful to Van to think about his destroyed homeland.

"Van" Merle murmured, "I'm sorry I-"

Just then a blue pillar appeared from the sky about 10 meters from Van and Merle. They were both shocked and stared in wonder. Merle's mouth gaped open as she saw a young women descending slowly, her back facing them.

They kept looking on with curiosity as she very gradually floated down towards them.

Abruptly, the blue pillar link broke as Hitomi was still very high up and she was no longer floating down. She was falling. Fast.

Merle yelped in worry for what was going to happen to the poor woman, as Van took off his shirt and two angel wings spread out. He quickly flew up towards Hitomi and caught her as gently as he could but it was quite hard with the pressure of the fall, which caused her more pain.

Van flew back down to Merle with Hitomi still in his arms. Merle approached him and looked down at the mysterious girl in his arms. Her eyes were closed.

The two Fanelians forgot the fact that she had just descended from the sky and looked at her condition instead. She had a long cut on her face under her right eye which would definitely scar, her left eye was now bruised black and her lower right lip swollen. The rest of her body was in bruised and they did not fail to notice her stab wound.

"Shit." Van muttered with worry for the young girl's life. Hitomi halfway opened her eyes with the last of her strength and stared up at Van's dark auburn eyes. Their eyes locked and Van was in shock at the colour of her eyes.

There was only one other person that he had ever known to have dark emerald eyes like hers. And that person was...

"_Dead."_ Van thought. Hitomi noticed the angel wings and the white feathers lightly floating around her.

"_An angel? Am I dead?" _Hitomi questioned before blacking out.

"Lord Van! She's not going to make it! We need to get her a doctor." Merle stated in panic. Death was never easy for anyone, even if you didn't know the person.

Van looked ahead to his Escaflowne resting beside a tree. Quickly he flew to it and controlled it to become a flying dragon.

"Quickly, hop on Merle! We're going to find Millerna!" They both hopped on Escaflowne and flew away as fast as Escaflowne could towards the camp.

After arriving at the camp and creating quite the public display yelling Millerna's name in despair, Van and Merle finally found her and Millerna started treating her new patient immediately.

Millerna let Van and Merle watch her treat Hitomi, however Merle being to grossed out at her wounds had to leave the room. It was only Van who stayed and looked intently at the green-eyed girl. Millerna had taken off Hitomi's shirt and started stitching up the stab wound only to notice that the girl had more scars similar to the one under her right eye.

Millerna shook her head, "This girl's been through a lot of suffering."

Van kept quiet and not knowing why he started feeling very, very... angry? Why? He didn't know this girl, and he had seen many before her die.

But there was something about this girl. He didn't like the way blood was leaking out of her body or how she had fresh bruises swelling up. And that's when he noticed it. He gaped as he saw the green star tattoo on her forehead.

"_It cannot be.."_

Suddenly Van had a flashback of castle exploding.

"Van?" Millerna repeated for the third time which made Van snapped out of his trance. He looked at Millerna with confusion in his eyes.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to have to take off her skirt to see if more damage has been done, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Van nodded, but before he left the room, he took one last look at the mysterious girl that had reawaken such memories.

It took 6 days for Hitomi to wake up. Everyday Van would go check up on her and sit beside her for very long hours, which confused everyone because Van never took the time of day to hang around all the other wounded in the camp. Not that he was inconsiderate; he just thought he was more valuable at training and making himself stronger for the future battles to come.

The girl from the Mystic Moon had caused quite the commotion. The Council of Wisemen and Wisewomen met to discuss of the mystery of the star-shaped tattoo on her forehead.

"That tattoo," one wiseman began "is the mark of the Legendary Elves. They were known to rule the earth when the Draconiens ruled the skys. They were known to have very powerful magic, put into the hands of a tainted soul and the world would be in great danger. The real mystery is how that mark could have risen. They have been extinct for over 50 years!"

"That's not the only thing that doesn't make any sense," interrupted another wiseman "Besides that green mark, she does not have any of the other characteristics the Legendary Elves had, for one thing her hair is not of the common pure white shade it should be, and she does not have the brown shaded eyes that they shared. She doesn't even have pointy ears! This is absurd; it might only be a scheme."

The wise women spoke up for the first time "Or maybe, she is a half-breed."

"A half-breed?" The rest said in unison.

"Yes, it is said that some Legendary Elves challenged their fate and wandered off into the human world. Maybe one of them mated with a human and this is the result."

Van had heard enough. He had been sitting at the round table this whole time and thought this was a complete waste of time.

"So now that you've discovered what she is, are you happy now? This is useless, what good is it to know what breed she is. She was injured and we're helping her, just like all the other refugees here in this camp."

"Lord Van," a wise man began "It is more than that, if she really is of the descendents of the Legendary Elves, we could maybe use her power against-"

Van snorted "Use her power? She can't even stand on her own two feet!"

"She will heal, and then maybe we can make her join our army." The wise men continued.

Van was fuming, he was about to raise his voice, until this old feminine hand landed on his, in shock he looked over at the wise woman who was the one to interrupt this time.

"It would foolish to try and manipulate the soul of a living organism. We do not have the right to do it. This meeting is over." She concluded before anyone else could add anything.

Even though the wisemen disagreed, the wise woman was the senior of the Council and they retreated back to their chambers.

"Lady Nala," Van looked at the wisewoman.

"Yes Lord Van?"

"I think that girl is..." But he could not bring himself to say it because he was afraid that it was not true, and to make such an assumption would be a sin.

"I know." Lady Nala smiled at him and patted his hand. "Whoever she is, let's make her feel welcome eh?"

What do you guys think? :D


	3. Waking Up

Thanks for the reviews!

Here's the next chappie.

After 6 days Hitomi had finally awaken. Although Van had been visiting often, when she woke up he was not around. She did not have enough strength to sit up, only to open her eyes and slightly turn her head from side to side.

"_Where am I?" _ She wondered as she looked at her surroundings. Hitomi winced in pain as she attempted to move.

"Ouch."

As she looked around she noticed she was in some sort of tent being held by wood. Hitomi closed her eyes and started to remember what happened to her, previous to her injuries. She sighed as the unwelcomed thoughts invaded her mind which caused adrenaline to start flowing through her veins.

When Hitomi opened her eyes again she was staring not at the roof of the tent, but instead into deep blue eyes.

"AHhhhhh!"

Merle jumped back at the girl's scream and screamed in fear herself.

Ignoring the pain, Hitomi sat up and looked at her intruder. She couldn't believe her eyes. It was a cat! But, in a human form?

Hitomi stared in awe not knowing what to say to this alien sitting at the end of her bed. Meanwhile Merle was thinking the exact same thing until she found a brilliant way to start a conversation.

"So...why is your hair so short?" Merle asked with such innocent curiosity.

"You...you.. you can talk?" Hitomi's eyes grew into giant orbs of green.

Insulted Merle humphed "Of course I can talk!"

"But.. you're a cat!"

"Yah, so?"

"..." Hitomi was speechless.

"You never answered my question." Merle reminded her.

"Sorry?"

"Why is your hair so short?"

Hitomi really didn't know how that was important but at this point everything seemed so absurd that she gave an honest answer, because in an absurd situation you just have to go along with it.

"Well, I run a lot, and I find that long hair always gets in my face, so I cut it off." Even though Hitomi's hair was boyishly short, it flipped all sorts of directions and was very wispy which gave it a feminine appeal.

"_Did I actually just answer that?"_

"Is this a dream?" Hitomi asked out loud.

"Huh?"

Ignoring Merle's confusion Hitomi continued "Of course, that would explain everything, it MUST be a dream."

"It's not a dream look!" And with that Merle went over to Hitomi and pinched her arm.

"Ow!" Hitomi yelped

"MERLE! What the hell?" Van roared from behind.

Both of the girls jumped at the new addition to the room, failing to have noticed when he arrived. Merle looked guilty but did not stop herself from defending her act.

"Lord Van! I just wanted to prove to her that she wasn't dreaming!" she said quickly and added "It's not like I pinched her hard..." Looking sideways at Hitomi's arm where you could still see the small red mark from Merle's pinch. A sweat drop appeared on her forehead "_Shiiit, maybe it was a little harder than I thought._"

But Van wasn't even paying attention to Merle's explanation anymore. His eyes were focused on Hitomi's who was staring right back at him with an even more incredulous look.

"_And_ _now there is a man with a massive sword in my tent, with medieval clothes... my tent? Ooo Hitomi..."_

Van approached Hitomi's bed and sat down on the chair beside it. He slid his elbows down his knees and was now inches away from her face just staring at her, which caused Hitomi to blush slightly. She observed him as well, what else was there to do? She noticed his tan skin and his black dishevelled hair that caused some strands to go over his eyes, which were an auburn color. This moment continued for quite some time until Merle lost patience

"Not that this isn't exciting..."

It broke Hitomi out of the stare but Van was still looking intently at her.

Van was the next to speak "What's your name?"

Looking back at him she answered "Hitomi" in a shy voice.

"Hitomi..." Van repeated with a weird look in his eyes.

This is when Millerna decided to make an appearance. Her face glowed when she saw that was Hitomi awake.

"Oh hey there! Awake from your slumber I see."

Hitomi looked over to the woman with curiosity and now her questioning started,

"Where am I?"

"You my dear, are on Gaea, in Asturia's land."

"...Gaea? Asturia?"

Millerna started explaining to Hitomi what happened, how Van and Merle found her floating down from the Mystic Moon and rushed her over here. She explicated that Hitomi had been in a critical state and how they treated her with their medical care. And then she explained how the Mystic Moon was where Hitomi was from. She explained how Gaea was in the middle of a war because of the Zaibach Empire is trying to rule the entire planet. And how they are located in a refugee camp for all who have lost their homes due to the flames the Zaibach army has created.

It took a moment for all of this information to sink into Hitomi. So she wasn't on earth anymore? Did that mean that she was as far possible from Jake and all her troubles? A huge grin appeared on her face. She turned to Van and Merle and with genuine gratitude in her emerald pools whispered "Thank you for saving me."

Van shrugged it off like he didn't really care. This was a lie. The look she gave him made his heart beat faster. Merle gloated "No problem, Van and me know how to do things right."

Hitomi beamed at Millerna "So can I look around this place? If this is a different planet I want to check it out!" Hitomi tried to get up but was surprised at how little strength she had and collapsed back on the mattress.

"You shouldn't have done that! You are steal healing; you are going to stay in bed until all your bruises are faded." Van ordered with a stern voice.

"Until my bruises are faded? People can walk around with bruises you know, it's not like it's a broken limb! I'll be able to move sooner than that, just give me a day here, and I'll be ready to explore!" Hitomi declared with enthusiasm in her voice.

"No you're not. I'll tell you when you're able to even stand." Van continued. Even Merle and Millerna thought that was a little too much. They knew he was worried, but give the girl some space here. Of course they didn't have to say anything, Hitomi was on it.

"Excuse me? Just who do you think you are? I think I can make my own decisions here. Now I know you saved me and don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful but that doesn't mean you call the shots on my life now!"

"For you information, I am a King, and you will have to listen to my orders."

Hitomi looked at him like he had another head growing.

"...Right... well LORD Van, I understand that you are a King, but technically I'm not even from this planet. Therefore you are no King of mine."

"You know you have some nerve-"

And so the bickering continued with Merle and Millerna watching them. Apparently this Hitomi was as stubborn as Van. Soon it was interrupted by new visitors appearing in the tent. Hitomi got to meet Allen and his crew. Allen was introduced as a knight and also as Millerna's lover. His crew were nice men as well, all cheery and smiley. It was time for bed and Hitomi thanked every one of them for accommodating her as one of their own. Everyone left one by one and Van was the last one to leave the room. He glanced back at her with annoyance in his eyes, and then shut the door.

Hitomi sighed. Although it had been a long day, she liked it here very much. No one looked at her funny because of her green mark on her forehead.

"Well why would they, when they've got a talking cat." She said aloud. She closed her eyes with hope for a new life on her mind. It didn't take long before she fell asleep.

When she woke up Van was at her side again. For the past 3 days when she would wake up, he would be there. She was very annoyed. It's like he was making sure she would not get up. What was she going to do? Wrestle him to try and get past him? At least he would stop staring now. Instead he would do stuff to his sword, like make it shiny or something uninteresting like that. At least it gave her something to look at, because as much as she hated to admit, she wasn't ready to get up yet. And she didn't want to be left alone. All that would do is make her think of the past.

Today, she felt like making an effort to try and get to know this strange man. It's not like there was anything else better to do. 

"So, Van, how old are you?" Hitomi started with a pleasant tone.

Van gave her a sideways glance, and answered shortly "21".

"Ah." Hitomi sweatdropped. Could he at least try to make conversation? "And umm, you said you were a King, right? Of what country?"

"Fanelia." He answered shortly again, but this time with a more angry tone.

"_What's his problem?"_ Hitomi pondered with irritation. Here she was making an attempt at becoming friends with her saviour and he was being so short with her. She decided to make one last attempt and the only thing she could think of asking was...

"Umm so you like swords eh?" She gave him an encouraging look. Surely this would make him want to gloat, what man doesn't like to show off their passion.

"Sure." 

Hitomi sighed in defeat. But before she was about to completly lose hope Van added,

"I like my Escaflowne more though."

Hitomi was confused "What's an Escaflowne?"

"A special guymelef."

"...Oh I see." She answered as if she knew what he was talking about, even though she was completely lost. _"Just go along or else he'll lose his temper with you again." _She told herself.

"You do, do you?"

"Oh yes of course. You know those guymelefs are quite...interesting."

A smile crept on Van's face but he turned away hiding it, continuing to shine his knife. 

"Yes they are. Tell me Hitomi, what do you find most interesting about guymelefs?" Van tried to hide the amusement in his voice as much as he could.

"Oh well, you know."

"No...not really. Do go on."

"Well, ermmm they are quite hard...not to notice! And things or stuff that's hard not to notice have always been something of great interest to me which makes... them.. interesting?" Hitomi attempted.

Van chuckled lightly. _"She's actually right with that one."_

Hearing Van's chuckle, it was Hitomi's turn to get mad.

"You know, you could at least try to be nice with me." Hitomi began anger rising in her voice.

But Van brushed it off as if he didn't even hear her.  
_  
"Oooo is that how it is?_" Hitomi thought. "_Fine I'll just ignore him myself!_" She said with satisfaction.

Silence invaded the room once again. Hitomi stared at the top of the tent where she could see the sun blazing through it. She could feel its heat, it was nice. When she thought about it she hadn't seen the sun in a long time.

Hitomi's thoughts wandered to Rikku, her younger sister. Rikku's hair had been a golden blond like the sun. She was pretty much the most active girl she used to know. Sadness filled Hitomi as she remembered her beloved sibling, and how she had found her the day she overdosed in their small bathroom. Hitomi had come home to find the place completely quiet, which was odd, because Rikku always had her music blaring. Hitomi really had to pee and rushed to the bathroom, opened the door and froze.

Abruptly Hitomi shook her head, trying to stop herself from thinking those awful memories. Merle decided to come in at the perfect time because Hitomi's will power to control her thoughts was becoming very tiring.

"Hey Hitomi!" Merle greeted with a smile.

"Hey Merle," Hitomi responded, "how's your day going?"

"Booooooring! There's nothing to do around here. I can't wait till you get better and on your feet; we're going to have so much fun!" Merle squealed. "You should know, on Gaea we have many mystical creatures." She stated matter-of-factly.

"You don't say.."

"You have to be careful though; there are also some weird, dangerous people out there! We'll have to stay clear of them. The war kind of messed with their minds."

Hitomi smiled "Everyone's a friend until they prove otherwise."

Van froze. _"What did she just say?"_

_**Flashback**_

_Van and his green eyed friend were playing in the woods. The little girl had hazelnut braided hair and green eyes and a green shaped star on her forehead. She was 8 years old. Van was 12. You could hear her giggles all over the forest, with Van making grimaces and being silly alongside of her. _

_Out of nowhere this huge bear came out of the bushes. Van picked up a rock and with fear in his system was about to chuck it at the bear when two small hands wrapped themselves around his arm._

"_What are you doing?" Van exclaimed in a panicked voice. "It's going to eat us alive"_

_But the young girl looked up at him with such lively eyes and giggled "Vanny, you should know, everyone's a friend unless they prove you otherwise. This bear is just passing through."_

_Van's hand reluctantly let go of the rock and watched in amazement as the bear really did just want to pass through, even after he had acknowledged the two children._

_**End of Flashback**_

Van looked at Hitomi as she was chatting away with Merle. It was really her. This was not just 'a' Hitomi, it was his Hitomi. The Hitomi he had lost 9 years ago.

Let me know what you think! It pushes me to write more haha


	4. Laughing is the Best Medicine

And here is chapter 4!

After Hitomi and Merle got to know a few more interesting facts about each other Hitomi received her dinner and had unnecessary help to eat it. It was weird for her to constantly be taken care of. Not that her sisters didn't watch her back, but they were sisters, not mothers. Sometimes your siblings are just as lost as you are when it comes to growing up.

It was now late at night and time for everyone to go to bed. Merle fell asleep at the end of Hitomi's bed in a bundle. Hitomi didn't mind, she actually started to grow pretty attached to the strange cat/human. She was startled when Van got up from his chair. He had been so quiet all this time that she sort of forgot he was even there.

"_He looks really distracted. Why does he always look at me like I have horns? Jeez, he really needs to get better manners. Should I say something?"_ Hitomi pondered. She awkwardly looked at him and noticed he wasn't at all fazed by her squirming. "_Maybe I should just close my eyes and pretend I suddenly fell asleep."_

This idea seemed brilliant to her, and Hitomi let out a huge false yawn escape her mouth. She snuggled her pillow and closed her eyes letting a sigh out. It was dead quiet in the room, you could practically hear crickets sing. "_1...2...3... well he should be gone by now._" Hitomi assumed. She cracked open one eye lid to find Van still standing there with his hand to his chin as if he was debating something important.

Annoyed Hitomi sat up, "That's it. You have got to stop doing that."

Awaken from his thoughts Van looked confused, "Do what?"

"That creepy I'm-going-to-stare-at-you-often thing!"

Just as Van was going to retort something, a loud alarm had gone off into the camp.

"Shit." Van said. He ran out of the tent leaving Hitomi startled, and went towards the meeting point where Allen and Balgus the two other leaders of the camp would be.

When Van reached them it looked like Allen and Balgus had already made up a plan.

"What's going on?" Van looked at them with urgency.

"There has been a messenger requesting help. The capital Sheling is going to be attacked for not successfully gathering enough resources to the Zaibach Empire." Balgus declared.

"Sheling? That's 5 days of travel to get there!" Van exclaimed.

"If we take the crusade and Escaflowne we can make it in 2 and half days, Lord Van." Balgus explained. "We can carry up to 5 guymelefs on the crusade. The rest can stay and protect the camp."

"We need to leave right away." Allen added with stress.

Van nodded and the three leaders started giving out orders to the soldiers within the camp. After 15 minutes of preparation everyone was ready to go. Allen had kissed Millerna before getting on the Crusade while his crew were starting up the fuel. Van was getting on to Escaflowne when Merle came rushing up to him.

"Lord Van!" Merle said with concern in her voice. "Please be careful!"

Van nodded and looked at her with seriousness "Merle, promise me you'll look after Hitomi for me."

Merle promised. Van got Escaflowne to transform into a dragon and flew away next to the Crusade.

Merle went back to Hitomi's tent. Hitomi didn't fail to notice the worry on the cat's face.

"What's going on?"

"The Capital Sheling in going to be attacked by the Zaibach army, and Van left with the others to go help them."

Hitomi mouth grew into a grim line. She had never lived in a time of war_. "I guess street fights are nothing compared to this."_

There was nothing they could do except go to sleep and hope for their safety.

After 2 days Hitomi was able to walk. Even though Merle promised to watch over Hitomi, she didn't think it necessary not to let her walk around... even if she did have bruises left.

Hitomi walked around like she was a newborn, observing the world with brand new eyes, and utterly speechless. The nature was more exotic than on earth, and so much more beautiful. Even the air was cleaner. She was surprised to see that there weren't just cat/human creatures, but fish people and bears, and pretty much any animal you could think of. Merle and she had fun taking walks into the forest.

It gave Hitomi an odd feeling walking in the woods. She figured it must be the fact that she's on a completely different planet.

But still.. there was something about the woods. It's almost like she heard the trees whisper sometimes. _"Which is absolute nonsense_" she would tell herself. And soon it wasn't just the woods. When Merle and she stopped at a river to soak their feet, she thought she heard a chant.

"Did you hear that?" Hitomi asked as she looked around.

"Hmm?" Merle said while she was laying on her back, soaking up the sunrays.

Hitomi decided not look like a complete lunatic and kept her thoughts to herself. She looked at her reflection in the water, noticed the scar under her eye and winced at the thought that this was officially her new face. She then looked up at the sky, her mind drifting to the war that was going on.

"Do you think they`re doing okay over in Sheling?" Hitomi asked with concern.

A frown covered Merle`s feline traits. "They better be. Lord Van told me he`d be careful."

Curiosity invaded Hitomi to how such a fun spirited cat could get along so well with... well Van.

"Merle, how did you and Van become so close?"

Merle`s face turned into a smile, "Lord Van is the one who took me under his wings when my parents died. He found me on a trail in the woods and took me to his castle when I was just a little girl. He might come off as a tough mean guy, but he really is a caring person. He`s like a brother to me."

Hitomi tried to picture Van as a nice little kid who picked flowers and played hide and go seek with other children. It was actually quite hard for her to do so. All that was coming to mind was a little brat who bossed people around. They stayed there for the rest of the afternoon before heading back to camp, chatting about nothing important.

5 days later, another alarm went off within the camp. But this time it was not to call upon soldiers. It was to call for medical help. Survivors from a near village that had been burned down by rebels had made it to the camp. All the women were rushing around looking for sheets they could wrap up the wounded with.

Hitomi`s wounds had healed a little more. Her stab wound wasn`t completely closed off but she could finally use her arms properly. Feeling more energetic she wanted to help as much as she could, after the way the camp society had helped her it`s the least she could do.

This day was, inconveniently, also the day that Van, Allen and Balgus returned. To everyone's relief no one got seriously injured. As soon as Van got back his main concern was the emerald-eyed girl.

He looked around the camp worry rising as he couldn't find her. But after a few more minutes of searching he had finally found her. And was furious to see her carrying a bag of coal through the camp. Trying to keep calm he marched over to her. Of course his calm was just a suggestion.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Hitomi was shocked to see Van, she didn`t even know they were back. Although he had just yelled at her, she was extremely happy he was safe and sound. Which made her answer in a cheery tone, "Oh, I'm just getting Millerna some coal so she can heat up some water to disinfect some wounds of the new refugees."

"You shouldn't be carrying anything heavy; your wound is going to open up! Put it down!" Van yelled at her, creating a scene within the camp.

Hitomi looked stunned. Clearly this 'King' had some issues. "Umm, I'm just going to keep walking now."

"Not with that bag you're not. Give it to me." Van ordered in a stern voice.

Hitomi glared at him. "No."

Hitomi tried to get past him but he stepped in front of her.

"What is the MATTER with you! I am perfectly capable of carrying a bag that weights the same amount as a bag of apples."

"Give me the bag."

"Move out of my way. NOW."

Van grabbed the bag from Hitomi but she held on to it. "Are you out of your mind? Let me carry this. I WANT TO CARRY IT!" She yelled.

Van ignored her screech and kept trying to get the bag out of her grasp. They were pretty much playing tug-o-war with the whole camp nervously watched them. Because of the annoyance the two young adults were feeling they failed to notice the sound of a bag ripping...

"You are unbelievable!" Hitomi roared at Van's face.

"And you are a fool for thinking you're healed!" He shouted back.

"But I AM healed!"

"No you're NOT!" Van shouted back.

As he said that the bag, after going through a big amount of abuse, ripped apart which caused coal to explode in Hitomi's and Van's face. They were surrounded by a cloud of coal dust for a few minutes and when it all finally fell to the ground the two of them were standing there dumbstruck staring at each other's completely blackened faces. All you could see were their eyes.

They stared at each other for a few seconds.

As much as she tried to control it, Hitomi's lip twichted into a smile.

3...2...1... And that's when she lost it.

Hitomi let out a humongous burst of laughter. She laughed so hard, pretty much the whole camp could hear her. The thing about Hitomi's laugh is that it's so wonderful it makes you automatically want to join in the amusement due to its contagious ring to it.

Van smiled and slowly but surely started laughing along with her. Hitomi reached Van's face with her hands and with two fingers wiped off two lines of coal dust under each of Van's eyes. Van was surprised by her touch but enjoyed every single second of her touching his face.

Hitomi laughed even harder at the image in front of her. She realized as she kept on giggling that it was an amazing feeling to laugh once more. This was the first time in a long time that Hitomi laughed. When she thought about it, she couldn't remember the last time she even chuckled.

This thought almost brought tears to her eyes, but not tears of sadness. Tears of happiness. It almost did.

After taking her breath back Hitomi being in such a good mood decide to listen to Van.

"Okay, you win. I'm just going to go wash my face. Am I aloud to do that?" Hitomi asked with a smile on her face.

"Sure, but I'm coming with you to make sure you're not going to climb trees just because you felt spontaneous."

They had to walk to the river to wash themselves since the camp were in need of all the water they could have to help the wounded.

The walk was in silence, but this time, a peaceful silence.

When they reached the river they started washing their hands and faces. After vigorously washing her face Hitomi turned to Van.

"Did I get it all?"

Van shook his head and without thinking wiped off the rest of the coal on Hitomi's face with his hand. At the sudden move, they both froze and stared at each other. Van's hand was still on her cheek, holding it. Hitomi's cheeks flushed pink as they stared at each other's eyes.

"Hitomi..." Van whispered.

"_There's something about his eyes, it feels so familiar..."_ Hitomi thought.

This intimate moment was without warning ruined by the one and only Merle!

"Hey guys! Just getting some more wa-..." Merle stopped in her tracks. "Oops.."

Van and Hitomi rapidly separated themselves, only realizing now how they had moved closer towards each other.

After Merle had awkwardly filled up the buckets full of water the trio returned to the camp in a wondering state.

The end. Ahaha justtttttt kidding!


End file.
